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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27588260">Lightning in Her Eyes</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/JadeDrake/pseuds/JadeDrake'>JadeDrake</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Danny Phantom</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Friends to Lovers, Ghost Biology (Danny Phantom), Ghost Cores (Danny Phantom), Ghost Hunters, Halfa Maddie AU, Mentions of corpses, Multi, Slow Burn, ghost science time, jack fenton knows machines, starts off in the college years, the author does not, three dorks and some ghost powers</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-11-16</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-24</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 23:07:35</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>8</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>11,628</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27588260</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/JadeDrake/pseuds/JadeDrake</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Madeline always had a pull to the paranormal. What happens when one day in college, fate chooses her?<br/>(What if Maddie became a Halfa in college instead of Vlad or Jack?)<br/>Halfa Maddie AU</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Eventual Jack Fenton/Maddie Fenton/Vlad Masters, Jack Fenton &amp; Maddie Fenton, Jack Fenton &amp; Maddie Fenton &amp; Vlad Masters, Jack Fenton &amp; Vlad Masters, Jack Fenton/Maddie Fenton/Vlad Masters, Maddie Fenton &amp; Vlad Masters</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>54</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter 1</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Madeline was <em> not </em> stupid or oblivious. She was just determined, and if something was between her and what she wanted to accomplish, she went through it instead of around. A lot of people called it tunnel vision. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Ever since she was young, she was always curious. She always wanted to know things. One of her earliest memories was looking up at the stars and wanting to know what they really were, or when she wanted to know why the moon seemed to change shape. Space was amazing, and maybe in another life, it would have been her passion, but in this one?</p>
<p> </p>
<p>When Madeline was little, she’d had what some people called an Experience. Her mother never mentioned it again, but every so often she’d just <em> stare </em> with that same troubled look she gave her when she first came back.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Lightning in her eyes, wet muddy feet, blood on her clothes.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Growing up in rural Arkansas was something a lot of people didn’t really...understand. Not entirely, at least. It was a small enough town that odds were you knew <em> of </em> everyone, even just in passing. Her family lived on the road that led in and out of town, and had a small field. Her father did odd jobs, and was a pretty reliable man that people went to when they had some maintenance or labor. Her mother was a smart woman(It ran in the family), and tended the field.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The woods weren’t easy, but most things in life weren’t. Alicia always loved them, always wanted to be where there was wind and crickets and the sound of water. She was always pulled there, the way their mother was pulled to the fields. Their father pretended that the pull didn’t exist, like that would stop it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Alicia to the forests, their mother to the fields, and Madeline to somewhere she couldn’t find. It was a bone deep feeling of not being where she needed to be, of something <em> missing </em>. That was, until Alicia had looked away from Madeline only for a minute. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Just a minute. That was all it took, sometimes.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The storm had been <em> howling </em>, and Madeline wanted to hear it better. They found her standing in the mud, staring up at the horizon, watching lightning flicker and flare. No matter how many times they brought her inside, as long as the storm kept on, she kept trying to go back out. Eventually, after their parents had gone to sleep, Alicia had taken her by the hand and sat with her on their porch.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>It wasn’t what she was missing, but it helped in a way she couldn’t describe.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Alicia took her into the woods later. She shared some of her favorite places to sit, places she liked to just <em> be </em>. Madeline was happy for her. Alicia said when she was older she wanted to live in the woods, and she promised her older sister she’d visit all the time.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Her mother took her on walks, every so often. She saw the way her mother always watched the fields, watched them sway, or watched them stand as still as if time had paused, just for them. Her mother told her that sometimes, when people weren’t used to the fields, it would make them act funny. She didn’t say it, but Madeline thought her mother acted funny if she was away from them for too long.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She was only fourteen, when they got one of the worst storms in Madeline’s memory. It hit suddenly in the late evening, tore trees up by the roots and left the plants flattened. Alicia watched the treeline quietly, eyes tracking the force they were hit with through the rain. Their mother had Madeline sat down next to her, one arm wrapped around her. They all knew it was to keep her inside.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Thunder exploded above them, and Madeline was the only one that didn’t jump. She just kept looking out the window.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Madeline wasn’t stupid, and her family knew that. She never wandered far from home, and especially never wandered when it stormed. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>It’s why they didn’t expect to find her missing from her bed that night.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Earlier, Madeline had been sent to bed, and she’d sat up in it, looking out the window. She felt the pull more than normal. One hand pressed to the glass, she traced the lightning. Then, she saw something in the tree line, off in the distance. Something green, glowing. Whatever she was missing. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>She didn’t hesitate. She had to know, she <em> needed </em> to know.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She snuck out, which was easy enough with the storm still raging. She followed the familiar road to the distant, barely visible glow. When it started to fade, she ran. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>By the time she got there, it was gone, and she felt the cold for the first time since leaving her porch. Not much made her cry, but she wanted to then. The feeling passed, when she saw the skid marks. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Walking closer, she bent down and touched the black streaks. They were cooling rapidly, but still felt warm. It wasn’t out of the question for something to have happened. It would have been unlucky to get caught on the road with the sudden weather, but very possible. It would’ve been easy enough for her to miss it, considering how loud the storm was. She followed the tracks into the trees.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Madeline found it.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Madeline found <em> them. </em></p>
<p> </p>
<p>A young woman and a young man.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She wailed with the storm, not making a sound, knelt in the mud. He had his hands in his pockets, staring blankly the way her mother did, at the motorcycle wrapped around a tree.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The shadows in front of her shifted, and the man turned his head slightly, just to look back. Madeline met his eyes. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>They were glowing. She looked down, and saw the pair again, this time still and broken on soaked ground.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>The man turned back to the woman, and sat down beside her, wrapping an arm around her. She got angry, then, shoving him off her. The shadow curled around them both, and Madeline didn’t want to leave them alone.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>So she sat down where she was, in the mud, in the storm, and listened to the thunder and lightning while the other two did the same several feet away. Eventually the woman stopped all together, and just looked down at herself.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Madeline eventually stood up and walked over to them. She didn’t know what to say, so she didn’t say a word, and just sat down beside the two. She’d never been this close to a body before, let alone two, but she couldn’t just leave them.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Eventually, the woman reached out, and touched the ring on her body’s hand. It began to glow the same green she’d followed here, and her form seemed to flicker. The man reached out to stop her, but she was just...gone. It was like the wind carrying away mist.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>He seemed lost, and the ring kept glowing. With shaking hands, he reached out to touch her hand, only to stop at the last moment. He drew his own back, and stared at her, at <em> them </em>.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She stayed with him and his shadow for a while longer, until he stood, hovering off the ground. Madeline craned her neck back to look up at him. He seemed devastated, and she couldn’t blame him. He couldn’t look at it all anymore, and went deeper into the forest.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Lightning crackled overhead, and Madeline was left alone with the wreckage and bodies.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>She stood, and turned back to the road. Her mother saw the blood on her clothes, mixed in with the rain and mud. Madeline didn’t know what that look meant, but she didn’t really care. Lightning kept flaring, thunder roaring, and she shook. It wasn’t good, what happened to those two, but that glow she’d followed, it left its mark on her. </p>
<p> </p>
<p>Her mother probably saw the wild look in her eyes. She was the first to see her at all. Madeline hadn’t realized until she saw her mother that she was <em> smiling </em>, just a little, but she realized it when her mother put her hand over her mouth, looking some kind of horrified. When she was brought inside, she told them what she’d found. Who she’d found. She didn’t tell her father about the spirits, just the bodies. He wouldn’t believe in them if he couldn’t even believe in the pull that ran in their family.</p>
<p>It was like seeing the stars for the first time all over again. Like she’d just gotten a close up of all the constellations in the sky.</p>
<p><br/>Alicia was the only one she told everything to, from the woman disappearing to the man and his shadow going into the woods. When her older sister had hugged her tight and asked if she was alright, all Madeline could do was smile again, and whisper, “<em>I found it</em>.”</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter 2</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>We're starting off kind of slow to build the dynamics there.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Madeline devoted her time to research. The rest of her life in Spittoon, Arkansas was entirely focused on understanding what she’d seen in that storm. The cultural aspect of the paranormal was deeply intertwined with the scientific side, but it was messier. She wasn’t sure how to approach half of the folklore on ghosts.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She decided to focus on the side science of things. It was easier to start with, there were rules and numbers, and unlike dissecting an entire global phenomenon, she </span>
  <em>
    <span>was</span>
  </em>
  <span> taught how to investigate scientifically in school. She’d focus on the cultural aspect at some point, she knew she’d have to, but not right now.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Madeline only ever spent her money on a few things. She made some pocket change picking up shifts at the graveyard, to help keep the tombstones clean and the fences in good repair. All of it went to ghost research, what little she could find. It took a good bit of networking, and a lot of diligence to even remotely tap into that market. It wasn’t exactly mainstream, after all.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After four years of work, she was in all advanced courses, at the top of her class. College was the next step, and odds were she’d be able to get a scholarship off the back of her studies. Maybe not the ghost part of it, but she’d needed to learn about a lot of different fields for the sake of her work.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It took her awhile to make a decision. She needed to find a college that had the best chance of accepting her work, in time. Somewhere she stood a chance in hell of getting grants for her research. She ended up picking one in Minnesota, as they seemed to have everything she needed. The college was almost directly off Lake Eerie, which was a paranormal hotspot. This all took a fair bit longer than she wanted it to, but it was the cost of quality.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Madeline saved up her money for the trip, but decided to take a safety precaution. Being so far away from her hometown, she’d have nobody once she moved, and she wanted to be prepared in case anything happened. That was when she started taking martial arts.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Madeline, of course, excelled. She was a very determined young woman, and martial arts helped take the edge off her fear.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Because she was afraid, and had been the entire time, even if it didn’t always look like it. It was an almost entirely untapped field of research, which meant if she failed and failed hard, she’d have nothing to support herself scientifically. Plus a lot of stories about ghosts were...unpleasant. She wouldn’t let risk of death and bodily harm stop her, but she wasn’t stupid enough to not be at least a little scared.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Realistically, she knew that the odds weren’t high that martial arts would be able to stop a spirit from hurting her, but it was something she could do to prepare just in case. That, and in case she needed to defend herself from the living.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alicia was nothing but supportive. Sure, ghosts seemed weird to her, but they both knew it was her calling the same way that cabin in the woods was Alicia’s. She’d started construction on it around when Madeline graduated high school. Between her martial arts, and helping her sister build a house, Madeline was fit as a fiddle by the time of the big move.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alicia didn’t hesitate to hop in the driver’s seat. There was not a chance in hell she’d leave her sweet baby sister to go it alone. Especially since they needed a way to get the truck back to her parents.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Madeline talked more in recent years than she ever did before she saw those ghosts. The past four, five years of her life was like night and day to baby Madeline. All she used to do was stare. It unnerved a lot of people, but their mother just said she was busy thinking.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Of course she was thinking more than ever now, but this time she shared her thoughts and observations. Constantly. Their sibling road trip was bittersweet. They’d never really been apart all that much growing up, and they knew this was the last time they’d see each other for a while. Sure, there were letters, but it just wasn’t the same.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There were a lot of jokes and laughter, and Alicia teased her for picking somewhere across the damn country. Madeline just grinned, and gave as good as she got.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She stretched in the seat, arms overhead, watching them drive through some place called Amity. They were already nearly there, under an hour remaining of their trip together.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Madeline was as excited as she was...Well, that wasn’t true, actually. She was </span>
  <em>
    <span>way</span>
  </em>
  <span> more excited than nervous. She was downright giddy. How could she not be when she was not just going to COLLEGE, but getting the chance to research ghosts in an official capacity?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She was literally shaking from excitement. She had anything and everything she thought she could need in her bags, and anything else she’d be able to get in town, hopefully. She’d take stock of what she had, what she needed, and she’d pick it up while she went hunting for a part time job.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alicia helped her carry everything in. They met Madeline’s new roommate together, Irina Tetzlaff. Alicia and Irina sized each other up, and there was a moment of tension between the two, before they both grinned and shook hands with what was probably more force than necessary. While they chatted, Madeline unpacked, and set everything up.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alicia and Madeline sat next to each other on the stairs to the dorms, watching the sun set. Alicia put her arm around her sister’s shoulder, and pulled her close. “You’re where you’re supposed to be, kiddo. Knock ‘em dead.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Madeline laughed at her pun, and hugged her tightly. They both promised to write, and Alicia drove off, almost poetically, into the setting sun.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was hard to adjust to, over the next few days. Mostly she was just glad she wasn’t living alone, and it did help that Irina reminded her of her sister, but it still wasn’t Spittoon, Arkansas.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She spent a lot of the time just getting her research back in order, and getting acquainted with campus.  And then, the week after that she spent checking for part time job listings, trying to find something that would work with her schedule. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Madeline was a fantastic multitasker, usually, but balancing a school workload on top of her, ah, </span>
  <em>
    <span>extra curriculars</span>
  </em>
  <span> was hard enough without balancing an actual job on top of it. She wasn’t sure how she’d figure that out just yet, but she was thinking it over.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was refreshing, being in a new place with tons of resources. The libraries were actually stocked, for one thing, and not just the ones on campus! There were a few little bookstores around town, and all their selections were amazing. She actually bought a proper journal for her research, and this cute little ghost keychain from a tourist shop near the lake.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Of course, she wasn’t really hiding what she was doing. Sure, some of her professors thought it was a waste of her talents, and the others didn’t care what she did with her life beyond her tuition being paid, but she just took those as compliments! Well, the ones that thought she was talented anyways.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Her peers were typically less forgiving. She’d gone to a party or two, because she </span>
  <em>
    <span>was</span>
  </em>
  <span> a pretty college girl and that meant she was automatically invited, but only because she wanted to network a little more and see if anyone had ghost stories of their own.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She wasn’t invited back to as many once she started talking about ghosts, though. Oh well, it was their loss. They wouldn’t be credited in her research if they didn’t give her anything to work with.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was about a month into classes, and she was in the swing of things by the time word actually got around she was a paranormal researcher. She noticed a lot of people just stopped talking to her entirely. Not even the time of day from them anymore. Whatever, if they wanted to live boring lives without ghosts, that was their business.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Of course, some people were more vocal about their distaste for her work.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“God, look, it’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>another</span>
  </em>
  <span> ghost freak.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Madeline snapped her attention to whoever had said that. The girl visibly startled, and looked almost scared of her. It was a fair reaction, considering within moments Madeline had the other girl backed into the wall. “Another? There are more? Who are they, and where can I find them?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She stuttered out a room number, and Madeline was off like a bullet. She wasn’t alone.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her entire life, she’d never really had friends. She’d either been the quiet kid with the creepy stare, or the weirdo in high school that was into ghosts. She’d made her peace with being alone. She’d pioneer her field of study, breaking whatever new ground she needed to on her own.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But here was a chance at comradery. Friendship.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It was almost entirely alien to her. Sure, she’d thought about what it would be like to have other ghost hunters work with her, research with her, but they were always ambiguous at best. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>She wasn’t alone.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>She threw open the door hard enough for it to slam against the wall. This was met with two panicked screams, one from each bed. Two guys her age were sitting in their beds, one reading a textbook that went flying, and the other tossing something mechanical he was working on.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There was a moment of silence as Madeline panted, hunched over, staring with a wild look in her eyes at both of them. Her gaze only briefly went over the walls, where she made note of dozens of shaky polaroids pinned to some corkboards, and several tacky Halloween decorations. Personally, she liked them. And there was also some football memorabilia, but she couldn’t place the team at a glance.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The two guys were staring at her, terrified. They glanced at each other, then back to her, before the one with the machine parts spoke up.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey, Vladdie, did a pretty girl just break down our door, or am I sleep deprived?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Both.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh, okay.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ghosts!” She just about barked at them. Realizing how bizarre that must have seemed, Madeline pulled herself together, standing up straight.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>While she did, the other two had jumped again. ‘Vladdie’ hopped out of bed, and opened his nightstand drawer, pulling out a camera. His roommate, meanwhile, grabbed what looked like a butterfly net with a car battery attached to it. “Where? Where are the ghosts!?” He ran up to her, and she only just managed to dodge the electrified net.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No ghosts! Not here. I just heard that you two studied them, too!” She waved her hands, and he stopped in his tracks, looking disappointed. “You can’t just get a guy’s hope’s up like that about ghosts.” He muttered, putting it back on its shelf.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The guy with the camera set it back in its drawer, also looking disappointed, before he froze. “Wait, you said ‘too’. You study ghosts?” He whirled, and she had a different guy up in her grill.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes, I do, space please?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He smiled at her sheepishly and backed off. “Sorry. We just didn’t expect to find anyone else that even thought they were real, let alone somebody that wants to study them, too. We’re a bit...Excitable I guess.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The taller of the two stuck his hand out at her. “Jack Fenton! I come from a proud line of ghost hunters, and I decided to take it to the next level. The scientific level! And, the mechanical. You’re lucky you’re not a ghost, otherwise the Fenton Ghost Zapper would have given you one hell of a shock!” After Madeline shook his hand, he gestured to the butterfly net from before. Stepping closer, she noted that it wasn’t as...crude as she first thought. He’d replaced the original net with some kind of mesh. “Oh, wow…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Remembering the other guy, Vladdie was what Jack had called him, she turned to him. He grinned, and held out his own hand. “I’m Vlad. Nice to meet a fellow enthusiast.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She shook his hand, smiling brightly. “Madeline, and I know how you feel!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Vlad turned to where Jack was picking up the parts he’d tossed. “Hey Jackie, grab your sketchbook, let’s show her what we’ve got so far. And uh, Madeline, you wanna compare notes, too?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Totally. I brought them with me!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Wait a minute.” Jack stopped, holding some sketchbooks. He looked at Madeline seriously. “You’re going to work with us?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I mean, I sure hope so. You’re literally the only other people I’ve ever met that seem to care about ghosts like I do.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jack brightened. “Right on! If you’re going to work with us, though, you’re gonna need a nickname. Madeline is a pretty name, but it’s way too long to shout in the field. How about we call you Maddie? It goes with Vladdie and Jackie!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Maddie smiled. “I like it.”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter 3</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The trio sat on the floor of the guys’ room, unsure of what to say. They’d parted two days ago, because they all had assignments they needed to work on and a couple deadlines they couldn’t put off, and hadn’t gotten a chance since to meet up again.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They had all their own research in their respective laps, shuffling through it to make sure it was all in order. Maddie decided to break the silence.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So we should probably talk about ourselves some, right? So we know who we’re working with?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jack grinned and reached over, wrapping an arm around Vlad’s shoulder. “Me and V-Man are besties! We met up at a ghost hunting club in town a few months ago!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Maddie leaned forward, surprised but excited. “There’s a ghost hunting club?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, and you’re looking at it’s only members.” Vlad shrugged with an awkward smile.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Two</span>
  </em>
  <span> of its only members. I want in.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Then congratulations, you’re a member.” Vlad said, and was yanked by Jack towards the taller man.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Vladdie, we can’t just let her in like that! She’s our first non-founding member, it has to be special!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay, okay, now let me up.” Vlad pushed himself so he was sitting upright again, and glanced around the room. “Alright, how about we, uh…” After a moment of thinking, he stood up and rummaged through his side of the room.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Maddie glanced at Jack, who was waiting eagerly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Found it! Okay, how about this.” Vlad stood over Maddie, brandishing...a nearly empty tube of gold and green wrapping paper. It had the same print on it as the football memorabilia. She blinked up at him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Vlad stood up straight, looking serious. “Madeline, do you vow to research ghosts with a passion, unyielding curiosity, and an open mind?” Vlad held aloft the tube, with Jack watching eagerly behind her. Okay, this was fun.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Maddie decided to take this seriously, too, and kneeled before him like a knight on one knee, head bowed. “I, Madeline, do vow.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Do you vow to search for the truth, no matter what it may be?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I do vow.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Then by the power vested in me as Head Paranormal Researcher, I hereby grant you membership.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jack began applauding loudly as Vlad tapped both of her shoulders. It was a silly moment, but it also felt important to her. These were people like her, welcoming her into the fold. It was what she thought she’d never have.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Maddie looked up, and saw Vlad’s serious expression crack into a grin, and the both of them started laughing.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay, I’m a member now. Can we get to know each other yet?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, let’s do it.” They took back their seats, and tried to reorganize the paperwork that had gotten a bit messed up from everyone shuffling around. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Damn, where did my clips go?” Jack’s paperwork was falling out of it’s stack, the paperclips in question nowhere to be seen.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“How do you even lose a paperclip? It was literally attached to twenty different pages!” Vlad began looking around on the floor from where he was sitting, trying to spot where it went.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Here you go!” Jack blinked at the sudden matchbox shoved into his face. Holding the box was Maddie, smiling brightly. “Thanks, Maddie! That’s a lot of clips. Where were you keeping those?” He opened it, surprised at how packed it was.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“In my bag, duh. I keep all sorts of stationary stuff in there in case I need to take notes on the go.” She patted the bag on her waist, clearly proud. “You should always be prepared!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey, V-Man! If I’m the tech guy, and you’re the camera guy, why can’t she be the notes guy? Maddie, wanna be the notes guy?” Vlad, who was looking at how many paperclips she’d managed to fit into a matchbox, looked up. “Huh? Notes? Oh! Yeah, totally!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Maddie crossed her arms, amused. “You haven’t even seen my notes yet. They could be unreadable, or in like, French.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Are</span>
  </em>
  <span> they in French?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No, English.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Then there’s no problem. If I can read my own handwriting, I’m positive I can read yours.” Jack gave her back her box, tucking it away.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s true. Jack’s handwriting looks like chicken scratch if it got tossed in a blender.” Vlad nodded, then grabbed a page from Jack’s notes. “Tell me if you get literally anything from this, by looking at it for ten seconds. Try to read as much as you can, I’ll time you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Maddie accepted the challenge, holding the paper. Vlad held up a hand, looking at the football shaped novelty clock(he really seemed to like whatever team that was), then told her to start.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Maddie just stared at the page. What the hell </span>
  <em>
    <span>was</span>
  </em>
  <span> this? It looked like someone dipped a wire brush in ink and slathered the page in it. Holding it close to her face, she managed to find a single word she could make out.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And done. Learn anything?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“All I could read was the word ghost.” She said, pointing at it. Vlad leaned forward and looked at it. “Yeah, that doesn’t say ghost. It says aghast. Actually, I think this isn’t even a ghost paper, it’s an essay. Jackie, my man, you gotta turn this thing in.” Vlad passed it back to Jack, who looked up from his sketchbook.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh, thanks! I knew it was somewhere. So, Maddie, tell us about yourself.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I have a feeling that we should probably save me for last, because I don’t think we’re going to talk about anything else after.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Weird, but okay!” Jack shrugged. “Then I’ll go first! Like I told you before, I come from a long and proud line of ghost hunters! My parents have the journal of one of my ancestors, including all his research. I tried my best to copy it down into some of my own, because they won’t let me take it until I’m a ‘grown adult’ who ‘has his own house’, so I can’t actually show you the original. And no offense, but I literally just met you like, two days ago and probably wouldn’t show you anyway.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“None taken, and </span>
  <em>
    <span>what do you mean you have an ancient ghost hunting journal!?</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Maddie grabbed him by the front of his shirt, pulling herself closer to him. “How long is it? How much information did you get from it? How old is it? Have you found any evidence proving or disproving anything?” She asked in rapid fire, with wide, wild eyes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jack stared for a moment, eyebrows in his hairline. She moved </span>
  <em>
    <span>fast.</span>
  </em>
  <span> She looked at him the way a tiger looked at a buffalo. “Uh.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Maddie looked down to where she was holding him, and let go with an awkward smile, settling back into her spot. “Yeah, sorry about that. I’ll just write down my questions for later.” Sure enough, she jotted everything and more down onto a little pocket notebook she pulled from her bag. “Okay, there.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>While she was writing, Jack and Vlad looked at each other, still surprised from her outburst.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Anyways, as for stuff that’s about me but not ghost hunting? I was born in a log cabin in Indiana, me and my parents moved into town when I was about ten. I fell in love with inventing, and I’ve been making things ever since.” He finished. “All my inventions get patented as soon as I can, and I send most of the money back home.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Maddie looked impressed. “Wow, Jack. That’s really cool. What about you, Vlad?” She glanced at the other guy, who smiled brightly at her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Wisconsin, born and raised. My parents had better stuff to do, so my grandparents raised me. They passed away a few years back, which got me into thinking about mortality and stuff. They loved the Packers as much as I do. Used the college fund they left me, came here to study.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She glanced over at Jack, a bit worried about how casual that statement was, but he didn’t seem concerned.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Vlad rubbed the back of his neck. “They believed in ghosts, too. But the main reason I started studying them is because of something that happened when I was younger...I had a near death experience. It’s kind of personal, so I don’t really wanna get into the details, but, uh, long story short I was legally dead for a few minutes, got resuscitated. That made me wanna look into the afterlife.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Maddie smiled gently at him. “It’s nice that they were so supportive of your work. My dad doesn’t believe in anything he can’t see, and I don’t even know what my </span>
  <em>
    <span>mom</span>
  </em>
  <span> thinks about it. My sister says that I’m the expert, and if I say ghosts are real, they probably are. Grew up in Spittoon, Arkansas. Not much else about any of that.” She shrugged.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Now, </span>
  <em>
    <span>this</span>
  </em>
  <span> is the good part.” Maddie grinned, and the other two leaned in. “I vow on my membership in your club, and every single fiber of my being that this is true.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Maddie told them everything. About the pull, the storms, and the crash. They looked like they had a million questions for her, and only shock was holding them back. When she finished, she leaned back, her smile faded a little. She </span>
  <em>
    <span>really</span>
  </em>
  <span> hoped they believed her. She’d met enough people in her life that would have called her a lot of less than kind things if she’d even suggested she’d seen ghosts.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Holy shit.” Vlad muttered, leaning back against his bed, staring up at the ceiling.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jack was almost literally vibrating with excitement. He jumped up, and began going through all of his equipment.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Maddie blinked. “So...you believe me?” She asked with only a little hesitance.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I do, yeah. Usually when people lie to us about ghosts, they can’t stop laughing.” Vlad rubbed his eyes, looking down at all their research on the floor between them. “They’re real. They’re actually real. We’ve got a first hand account. Jack, we have </span>
  <em>
    <span>a witness.</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jack wasn’t paying attention to either of them anymore. He seemed to be figuring out what in his arsenal needed tweaking based on this new knowledge. Maddie breathed a sigh of relief.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After years of having nobody even half as invested as she was in the subject, years of imagining her future as a friendless mad scientist type that was ostracized by her peers...She didn’t have to worry about that anymore.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Finally, she'd found her people.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter 4</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The trio stared. Jack had his arms crossed with a thoughtful expression, Maddie had her hands triumphantly on her hips, and Vlad was holding his hands behind his back.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay, so here’s what we know.” Maddie stepped forward, pointing to the top left of the corkboard, where there was a sketch Jack had done of the two ghosts she’d seen. “A motorcycle crashed during a storm in Spittoon, Arkansas. Very shortly afterwards, there was a green light from an unknown source that was bright enough to see all the way down the road, through the rain. Upon my arrival to the scene, the source of the light was gone and I saw three figures. Two were entirely humanoid, and one was seemingly a sentient shadow. The two humanoids were identical to the two bodies on scene.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The other two nodded. Maddie paused, then smiled at both of them. “Thank you for the sketches, Jack. Thank you for the board, Vlad.” They both smiled back at her. She cleared her throat, and carried on.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Maddie pointed to the right of the sketches, to another that laid out roughly where the motorcycle had landed, and where the bodies were. “The feminine figure, who we will call figure one, was kneeling on the ground, in the mud. The mud seemed to stick to her, which leads us to believe she had enough of a physical form for matter to interact with it. Figure one was displaying something like living human emotion, seemingly grief over their deaths.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The masculine figure, who we’ll call figure two, also seemed to be in contact with the ground where he was standing. It’s currently unknown if his lack of reaction to their deaths was shock, apathy, or resignation. From the way the wreckage was laid out, it seems likely that he was the one driving.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Then we have figure three, the sentient shadow. It seemed to be attached to figure two, yet still displayed a will of its own in its movement.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jack and Vlad listened very seriously, as Maddie had their full and undivided attention. Of course, she was just summarizing what they’d already gathered, but it was important to stay on top of all your data!</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“After my arrival, I waited there for several minutes observing. There was no visible degradation of any of the figures. Figure two attempted to comfort figure one, only to be met with anger. This further lends to the theory of figure two being the driver, and makes the apathetic reaction theory less likely.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This also proves something. When figure one pushed away figure two, it proved that they are capable of physical contact with each other, and potentially other specters.” Vlad cut in.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jack nodded. “If they can interact with the ground, and each other, it stands to reason that they could interact with living matter, too!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well, we’ll have to prove that one. Living matter is an entirely different playing field. But you’re right! It does seem likely, so we’ll have that as a running theory.” Maddie smiled, before jotting it down on a note and pinning it to the board.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Now, when figure one made contact with her corpse, her form distorted, and the ring she touched began to glow. Do we have any running theories on what exactly happened there?” She turned to the others, arms crossed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Vlad flipped open his own notebook. “Let’s see. Form distortion, and disappearing. It could be that she made peace with her death and moved on, that whatever power she had ran out, that she no longer wanted to be corporeal, or that she decided to bind her power to the ring. We don’t really have enough data to answer questions, just enough to ask more.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Maddie nodded. “Well, which theory is looking the most likely?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jack studied the sketches carefully. “If she was that upset before disappearing, I don’t think she just moved on. She was crying, right? Maybe she decided to haunt the ring. It probably had </span>
  <em>
    <span>some</span>
  </em>
  <span> sentimental value.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We don’t even know what the term ‘haunting’ means, Jack. We don’t have enough information to do anything but guess.” Vlad sighed, frustrated.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Then we’ll just have to </span>
  <em>
    <span>get</span>
  </em>
  <span> more information. We live off of Lake Eerie. It’s the biggest paranormal hotspot in this half of the country! We can totally gather more data that way!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Vlad perked up. “You mean go on an actual ghost hunt?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hell yes! Let me get the Fenton Net Launcher!” Jack ran to the other side of the room, going through his shelves. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Maddie glanced at Vlad. “He has a net launcher?” Vlad shrugged. “Apparently.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Huh. Cool.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They waited for Jack to gather his equipment. “So, Vlad. How’s it going?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh, good. I’m doing good.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s good.” Maddie crossed her arms and looked back at the board while Vlad put his hands in his pockets.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Found it!” Both researches sighed in relief as Jack turned around. Except he had his finger on the trigger, because-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“JACK!” There was a loud thud as the other two hit the wall, tangled up. Maddie looked up to see Jack looking very guilty.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sorry, sorry. Probably shouldn’t have had the safety off, huh?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They got untangled with Jack’s help. “Well, we know it works at least?” He offered with an awkward smile.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, we do. Just be more careful next time Jackie.” Vlad patted him on the shoulder, and Jack brightened up again.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You two probably get a lot of noise complaints, don’t you?” Maddie teased, reloading the net back into its launcher.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Like you wouldn’t believe. They’re probably used to it now, though.” Jack laughed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay, okay, that was fun and all but if we’re going ghost hunting, we need to find somewhere that’s actually got some ghosts.” She brought them back on track, flicking the safety on before setting the launcher aside on the bed. “And we need to figure out what we’re bringing. Jack, wanna give us the run down on your tech?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Do I ever!” He put his hands on his hips, chest puffed out with pride. Vlad and Maddie sat down on Vlad’s bed while Jack got everything together, trying to decide what to show them first.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Maddie noticed the bedspread was gold and green. “So. The Packers. You </span>
  <em>
    <span>really</span>
  </em>
  <span> like them, huh?” She turned to Vlad. He looked embarrassed, and rubbed the back of his neck. “I do, yeah. Well, Jack does too. Half of the stuff on the walls is his, we just decided to divide the room by our interests. One half sports, one half ghosts.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Maddie glanced around. “Ohhh...That explains it.” All of the ghost hunting equipment, charts, and the cork boards were on Jack’s half of the room. The other bed even had ghost printed sheets.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah. We don’t really have a lot going on besides football and ghosts. We switch beds depending on who wants which half. Jack usually wants to sleep on the ghost side, though. Sorry. Was that weird? Is it weird, I mean, to switch beds with your roommate?” He cringed, looking at her hesitantly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Maddie nodded. “Maybe, but to be fair I don’t really care what’s weird. I have ghost sheets, too. I even have ghost print pajamas. You really </span>
  <em>
    <span>can</span>
  </em>
  <span> buy almost anything ghost themed in this town.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Vlad seemed relieved at that. ”Alright, I’m ready!” They both looked up and found the barrel of another weapon in their faces. With a shout, they both ducked down, and to the side.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Jackie, </span>
  <em>
    <span>please</span>
  </em>
  <span> don’t stick those things in our faces.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s fine! I had the safety on and everything. This one isn’t even powered on.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What exactly is it?” Maddie sat up, actually leaning in for a better look.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This right here is the Fenton Shirt Cannon!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“...Why do we need a shirt cannon?” Maddie looked up at him, incredibly confused.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That way we can spread the word that we’re hunting ghosts! Then if someone is being haunted, they know where to find us!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I mean, that’s not a </span>
  <em>
    <span>bad</span>
  </em>
  <span> idea.” Vlad looked thoughtful.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay, sure, let’s do it. But we should also do flyers if we’re marketing our services.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That too!” Jack set the cannon aside. “This next one is the Fenton Thermos!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Vlad and Maddie leaned in to look at it, then looked up at Jack. “What’s this one do?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Carries liquids and keeps them their ideal temperatures. In case we want soup for lunch! Or midnight lunch, if we’re out all night.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay, fair enough. Got anything for ghosts? Besides the nets.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He handed Maddie a device that was light enough to fit in one hand. “Here’s the Fenton Spectral Thermometer! It gives us the temperature of whatever it’s looking at in Fahrenheit and Celsius!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Maddie turned it over, finding the switch. Holding it up, she pointed it at Jack. “Alright, it says you’re running at...98 Fahrenheit, which is 36.6 Celsius, and pretty standard human body temperature. So, it seems to be working!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Here, Vladdie, check this one out.” Vlad took whatever device was shoved his way. It was small like the Thermometer. “That right there is the Fenton EMF Reader! It picks up any weird electromagnetic forces, and begins flashing if it goes above a certain threshold!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Maddie leaned over to look at it, eyes sparkling. “That is </span>
  <em>
    <span>so cool</span>
  </em>
  <span> Jackie!” She almost squealed. Vlad flicked it on, and they all crowded around to see what it said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Average readings. If that little notch goes over a quarter of the gauge, we’ve got company! Ghost company.” Jack pointed out the different levels of EMF. The one at the very far side said GHOSTS.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Great work, J-man!” Vlad looped an arm around Jack’s neck, and pulled him down, grinning. “We can get so much data with these things!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Thanks! But that’s not all. I saved the best for last.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Vlad and Maddie looked at eachother, excited, as Jack went back and started shuffling around his things.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I got Lunch!” He spun around, with a...picnic basket? “This is a modified basket. There’s a spot on the side for the Thermos. We’re probably going to be pulling a lot of all nighters together. This way, we can be at the top of our game in case we find any spirits!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Maddie nodded appreciatively. “Nice thinking!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh, and I have this Fenton Sample Containment Unit. It’s got all sorts of room and supplies in case we find any ghost goo in the field.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He popped open what was probably once a normal briefcase. Now, when it was opened, it split into three divided surfaces, with swabs, baggies, gloves, and a pair of forceps.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This is </span>
  <em>
    <span>so cool!</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Maddie bounced where she was sitting on the bed. “I can’t wait to go hunting now!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You really thought of everything.” Vlad told him, impressed as he looked through the case.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Thank you, thank you, I try.” Jack took a bow. “But seriously, I want to go get lunch. They opened a Nasty Burger a couple blocks away, wanna go check it out? It’s on me.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Totally!” “Let’s bounce!”</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter 5</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Here we get a bit more into Maddie's thoughts as we enter what I have lovingly called the trio bonding arc!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Maddie slumped in her seat, sighing quietly. It had been a long night. Jack didn’t look much better, either. He had his elbows on the table and his head in his hands, facing the crushing disappointment Maddie also felt.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Reaching out, she patted his arm gently. “It’s okay, Jack. We’ll find them. We know they’re out there.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Maddie knew what she saw, all those years ago. She wouldn’t let a few rough patches get in her way. Of course, it wasn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>just</span>
  </em>
  <span> a few rough patches. The past week since organizing themselves had been almost nothing but stress after stress, with a cherry of failure on top. They’d managed to schedule two different ghost hunts, but both were a bust. Not even a cold spot.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sure, none of them really expected to find a full ghost just hanging out, ready to answer all their questions. But considering they lived in a supposedly very haunted town? Well, they’d gotten their hopes up. It had been a crushing blow to their optimism.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They’d checked out the local cemetery, and found absolutely nothing. An entire night spent respectfully walking between the tombstones, and checking the perimeter, and there wasn’t anything there. Well, except the groundskeeper they had to avoid since they were technically trespassing, but nothing ghostly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They figured okay, maybe ghosts didn’t want to be around their bodies, and decided they’d walk the shore to see if there was any activity there. Lake Eerie was known world-wide for the bizarre things that happened out there, and the strange sights. It seemed like a pretty safe bet, until the worst they found was some litter. They picked it up, because it would be a dick move to just leave it there. And then they ran some tests on it, because it </span>
  <em>
    <span>did </span>
  </em>
  <span>come from the lake, but they got no results there, either.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Vlad came back over with their food. Jack slid over while Maddie, who was sitting across them, looked out the window she was leaning against at the dark just before dawn. Going out to eat had become a habit of theirs.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>God, she was tired. College was harder than she expected, and her nightly activities and afternoon research was devastating to her sleep schedule. She leaned forward, resting her head on one hand while Vlad and Jack talked about something. She wasn’t really paying attention.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>What could she even do? All of her money went into college, so if she dropped out she was screwed. She’d lose the best equipment she’d ever had, a literal roof over her head, and access to her best friends for the majority of the day. She’d have to get a job, which would be more physically taxing than school was, and would have stricter and longer hours.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dropping out really wasn’t an option, then. Like, not even a little. She rubbed her tired eyes, trying to think it through. There was just something about neon lights on the pavement at night that was hypnotic.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>So if she couldn’t drop out, she’d have to sacrifice something else. She didn’t even want to consider losing her ghost hunting, but it just wasn’t feasible anymore. Not at this rate, at least.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She looked back over and saw the other two looking at her, worried. “Hey, Maddie. Wanna head back to Campus?” Jack asked hesitantly. This was just unfair. She was fine! Sure, she was tired, and she had a bone deep ache with a heart deep one to match, but she could handle it. She HAD to handle it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>At Jack glancing worriedly to Vlad, she realized she hadn’t actually said anything, just hunched in on herself. “Look, I’m fine, okay? I can handle this.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We can take a break if you need to, Maddie. You know that, right?” Vlad said slowly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She narrowed her eyes. “What part of ‘I can handle this’ are you two not getting? I can take care of myself.” There was a hard edge to her tone.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You shouldn’t have to. Do it yourself, I mean. Ghost hunting is </span>
  <em>
    <span>our</span>
  </em>
  <span> passion. All of us.” Jack shrugged, eating some of his fries.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah. Look, we’re all in this together, okay? The three of us. This isn’t just some work thing, its a passion project we all care about. I’m just saying that if any of us are having trouble, we should be able to say something, you know?” Vlad rubbed the back of his neck, not meeting her glare.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Which is why he didn’t see the defeated slump of her shoulders. Biting the inside of her cheek, Maddie looked at how tired the other two were. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, I know. I’m sorry for snapping at you two, you didn’t deserve that.” Maddie sighed. She crossed her arms, debating if she should take their offer of talking it out.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“...How can I ask for your help if you’re both struggling, too?” Vlad looked up at that, and Jack gave her a small smile.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well, if we all work together, things should get easier, right?” Jack offered. “I mean, I don’t have time to do ghost hunting, inventing, </span>
  <em>
    <span>and</span>
  </em>
  <span> class work. Vladdie’s been having problems with that stuff, too.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“There aren’t enough hours in the day for me to sleep as long as I want to.” He sighed, making Jack nod. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That’s what I’ve been having trouble with, actually.” Maddie admitted. They began to pick at their food, thinking things over.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Maybe we can all do our class work together, and put a pause on the ghost hunting until we figure out a good schedule for studying? Not forever, but maybe we can research more ahead of time. That way we don’t hit as many dead ends.” Maddie proposed, feeling a little less stressed now that she knew she wasn’t alone.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Please tell me that wasn’t intentional.” Vlad groaned, but he was smiling. Maddie just shrugged. “It was, wasn’t it.” At that, she cracked a smile of her own.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Fantastic jokes aside, I’d like that. Studying always goes faster when you’re with friends, right?” Jack agreed, and Vlad nodded.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That was a pretty interesting thought, she mused. First she’d been alone in her interest, and she’d found them. She’d had nobody that believed her, and they didn't even question her. Well, beyond scientific inquiry. Maybe it was time to stop thinking of them as fellow enthusiasts, and more as friends.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The mood immediately lightened. Jack laughed a little too loud for the early morning, and Vlad snuck more than his share of the group’s fries.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Maybe, Maddie realized, they’d already come to that conclusion.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter 6</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Maddie looked up at the ceiling of the guys’ room from where she was lounging on the floor. Vlad and Jack were sitting side to side, going over a book. It was some classic that Jack had been having trouble with, and Vlad was pretty good with classic literature.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Stretching, she got cozy. She’d already helped them both with math, and Jack had gone over some of the finer points of their science class. None of them really had to worry about that one, but it was Jack’s favorite and it was always nice to see him so proud of his work.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Closing her eyes, she smiled. This was...nice. Maybe they should all go hangout sometime for something that wasn’t school or ghost related. They could catch a movie! Or they could go relax at the beach. Or both, actually. They deserved a break from how hard they’d been working, even if it was just one day off.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They could get back to ghost hunting soon at this rate. With the three of them working together to get their official studying done, they’d had enough time and enough energy to do some </span>
  <em>
    <span>unofficial</span>
  </em>
  <span> studying. It was only really unofficial because they hadn’t gotten anything solid enough yet for the faculty to care about their work, but it would happen eventually. They just needed a big break.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Maddie opened one eye and looked at the other two. Jack had a lot of trouble being patient, even with his own inventing. He was so full of life and ready to take everything on, that his enthusiasm spread to the other two. Vlad, on the other hand, was a lot more skeptical in general, but he still wanted to believe in everything they were working for. He just wanted to get it </span>
  <em>
    <span>right</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Maddie could respect that.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She knew she probably got ahead of herself sometimes, but it seemed to be working out for the best. After all, she’d met these two geeks.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sitting up, she smiled warmly at them. They looked up at her, and smiled back. “Hey, done with your nap? Sorry we’re boring you that badly.” Vlad teased.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Right? Such a snooze-fest.” Maddie waved him off, before making a dramatic show of stretching and yawning. “Poor Jack. He actually has to listen to you explain it all.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jack laughed. “It isn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span> bad. It’s just full of outdated references that make it way harder than it needs to be to understand. I’ve got the hang of it now! I think I do, at least.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey, when you two are done, wanna go see if there’s anything good playing at the theater? We’ve been working so hard, I figured we deserved a reward.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That sounds great! Hey, V-man, we should go see a scary movie!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No way. You couldn’t get me to see one if you dragged me in there, Jackie.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Maddie crossed her legs, leaning forward. “You’re kidding. You don’t like horror? We literally hunt ghosts, Vlad, how can you be scared?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh, I’m not </span>
  <em>
    <span>scared</span>
  </em>
  <span>. I just think the stories are so tacky. Like, the way they do gore is so lame. The human body isn’t a fountain of blood!” He groaned, leaning back against the ghost themed bed. Jack patted him consolingly on the shoulder, but was grinning.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s not </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span> bad Vladdie.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It totally is!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re right, Vlad.” Maddie piped in, making the guys look at her. “They </span>
  <em>
    <span>are</span>
  </em>
  <span> pretty bad. That’s why they’re funny.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jack looked like she’d handed him his birthday present. Vlad just groaned, louder. “<em>Noooo</em>! Not you, too! They’re </span>
  <em>
    <span>horror</span>
  </em>
  <span> movies, not comedies!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jack just laughed. “They couldn’t be scary if they tried! Wait, they </span>
  <em>
    <span>are</span>
  </em>
  <span> trying. That’s just why they’re funny.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Maddie nodded, amused. Vlad whining like that was </span>
  <em>
    <span>also</span>
  </em>
  <span> pretty funny, if she was being honest. “I like to look for all the ways they make the special effects happen. Sometimes it’s pretty cheesy.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Vlad made a show of sighing dramatically. “I can’t even put it to a vote with you two, I’m outnumbered. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Fine</span>
  </em>
  <span>. If you want to go see a tacky horror flick, I’ll go. But!” He grinned back at them. “I reserve the right to complain the entire time about it.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Yes.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Please do, between us laughing and you complaining, we’re going to get kicked out of the theatre!” Maddie giggled.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m game. Let’s put all this away so we can actually go have some fun, for a change.” Jack shut the book.</span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>“That was </span>
  <em>
    <span>amazing</span>
  </em>
  <span>.” Maddie put her hands in her pockets as they left the building. It was dark out, which was a special magic of its own.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“If by amazing, you mean awful, then yeah.” Vlad rolled his eyes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It wasn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span> bad. Admit it, Vladdie, you had fun.” Jack, of course, couldn’t resist teasing his best friend. Complete with a not-so-gentle nudge that sent Vlad stumbling away with a grin.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alright, alright, you win. It was nice, hanging out with you two. Even if we had to see some crappy horror flick.” He admitted with a shrug. There was no fooling either of them with the wide smile he had, though.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Maddie looped her arms around both of their necks, squeezing between them. “Let’s get back to the dorms. This was </span>
  <em>
    <span>really</span>
  </em>
  <span> fun, and I totally want to do it again, but I’m also pretty sure I’m going to crash in the next hour from all those snacks we had.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The other two agreed, and began the trek back. Jack gushed about the special effects, Vlad criticized them, and Maddie kept cracking jokes about everything.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The trio carried on back to the dorms, laughing louder than they should have given the late hour, but happy all the same and feeling better than they had in weeks.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter 7</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“This is Vladimir Masters, Jack Fenton, and Madeline Hawkins. We’re Paranormal Investigators, or to be more specific, Ecto-Biologists and analyzers of all things spectral. If it goes </span>
  <em>
    <span>boo</span>
  </em>
  <span>, we wanna know.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Jackie, that was the lamest way you could have said that.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What’s lame is you saying lame right at our intro! We’re professionals.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh, quiet down you two.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A woman steps into frame. Where before, the only thing on screen was a hallway with old wallpaper and a flickering hallway light.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“In our current investigation, we’re studying the Eerie Motel, located near the shoreline of Lake Eerie. There have been rumors and claims of spectral activity in the area, and we’re spending the night in order to collect data.”</span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>The video feed cuts to later on, with the camera set on an end table. Three people are now in frame. The woman speaks up. “We’re going to be investigating in the very early hours of the morning, where activity is supposedly at its peak. In the meantime we’ll be looking over the room we’ve booked for any abnormalities. Vlad?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>One of the men nodded and picked up the camera. The three of them swept through the room, taking note of every stain and crumb, after finding nothing of note, the video feed cuts out.</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <span>When it comes back, the two men are lounging in the bed together, one of them flicking through a notebook while the other takes a nap.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The woman speaks to the camera again. “The results of the sweep of our room were disappointing. Nothing abnormal. We’re taking the chance to rest up before the next stage of our investigation.”</span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>“-Shit, Vladdie, are you getting this?”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>
    <br/>
  </span>
  <span>“I am, I am! Where is it?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“By Maddie!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The slightly shaking camera quickly turns to where the woman is crouched on the ground, holding a hand up for the other two to stay back.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Jackie, I need you to slide me the sample case.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A silver metal suitcase was carefully slid over to her. Her hair was pulled back into a tight bun, and goggles were pulled down over her eyes. Her sleeves had been rolled up, and as she opened the suitcase, she slipped on heavy duty gloves.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As the camera-man began to walk around, maintaining a distance to the woman, the scene properly came into focus. On the sidewalk outside the motel from earlier, the woman was crouched a few feet away from something green and luminescent. It was only a few drops, but it was enough to make them all equal parts cautious and excited.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She’d already made careful notes of the scene, and taken Polaroids of it. Both were in the hands of the other man.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Carefully, she collected the unknown material. The men were whispering to each other as she worked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Holy shit, Jackie.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Do you, do you think that’s really ectoplasm?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I mean we don’t know until we run tests on it, but like, I can’t think of anything else that could glow like that.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“There are some types of bio-luminescent moss. We’re near a giant lake, so there’s got to be enough moisture here for that.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But moss can’t be a-a gel, or liquid can it? That’s definitely, I don’t know but it isn’t plant matter.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They were brought out of their awed conversation with the clicking of metal clasps. The woman stood up, grinning wide, and pushed her goggles up to rest on her head. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We did it, boys! Let’s sweep the area one more time, then get this sample back to the lab.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The other two agreed, and there was a new fire in all of them from this discovery.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When they finally made it back to the lab, and after test after test of the samples, the results were finally in.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It wasn’t something anyone had seen before.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter 8</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Maddie spent a lot of time in her life studying ghosts. Almost half of it by now, actually. Before then she just read a lot of books and helped her mom tend their families little field, or carry her dad’s tools around when he went on odd  jobs for the town. She didn’t have a lot of friends, so she spent most of her time book learning, and learning practical things like vehicle maintenance and how to fix a leaky sink.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She had no idea what was going on with Football.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Glancing from the TV, to the two in gold and green jerseys who were having the time of their lives yelling about some...ball pass that happened. She went back to eating her share of the snacks, not going to ask.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Despite her endless hunt for knowledge of all things paranormal, Maddie was actually fine not knowing things. Well, things that weren’t ghost related. She didn’t need to understand how yard lines worked to appreciate how excited these tapes made her best friends. Watching them turn to each other and shout about how the game was going was pretty fun, in it’s own way.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She loved that they invited her. It was probably pretty clear that she had no idea what was going on, but they just wanted to spend time with her, and that really, </span>
  <em>
    <span>really</span>
  </em>
  <span> made her happy. This was some of their bonding time, and they let her into it. Maddie ended up watching Jack and Vlad most of the time, smiling fondly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>This became a weekly ritual for them, the same way they went out to Nasty Burger after every hunt. Things mostly remained the same.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>For a while.</span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p> </p><p>
  <span>Thunder </span>
  <em>
    <span>boomed</span>
  </em>
  <span> hard enough to shake the building.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jack had already made sure his inventions weren’t at risk from any surges, and they both had flashlights set aside in case the power went out. Ghost hunting definitely had its perks. It was already evening, and the thick storm clouds didn’t exactly make it any brighter out. While Jack sketched some ideas out for more equipment, Vlad was rereading a favorite of his. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He genuinely loved classic literature, and yeah there’d been some teasing in the past that </span>
  <em>
    <span>Vladimir</span>
  </em>
  <span> liked Dracula by Bram Stoker, but he wasn’t the kind of guy to go running around in a cape. He might be a weirdo but he wasn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>that</span>
  </em>
  <span> far gone just yet.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Suffice to say both of them were distracted when their door slammed open to a peal of thunder. They both jumped out of bed at the sound. Privately, Vlad thought it was amusing as he looked up from his book. Maddie really did get carried away sometimes when she was excited-</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Wait. That wasn’t Maddie.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Jack stood up, hesitating only slightly, before going up to this other woman. With her arms crossed, she was...pretty intimidating, actually. She was closer to Jack’s height than Vlad’s, and rocked a similar mullet. And she was muscular. Like, throw Jack down a flight of stairs muscular.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Where’s the ghost?” Jack cut to the chase. She rolled her eyes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m not here about a damn ghost, Fenton. I’m here because my Roommate’s being weird and I don’t want to catch her cold. You’re her ghost buddies, right? Can you </span>
  <em>
    <span>please</span>
  </em>
  <span> get her off the roof?” Despite the annoyance, she did seem genuinely worried.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Your room-</span>
  <em>
    <span>Maddie’s on the roof?”</span>
  </em>
  <span> Vlad cut in, standing up. Jack and Vlad looked at each other for only a moment before grabbing their flashlights and heading out in a hurry, pushing past Irina. They’d never met her before now, but she definitely fit Maddie’s description of her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Speaking of, </span>
  <em>
    <span>Why the fuck was Maddie on the roof in a storm like this?</span>
  </em>
  <span> Was she okay? Vlad’s mind was racing with why, but Jack wasn’t even thinking, he was just panicked. The closest thing to thoughts in his head were about the conductivity of lightning. They were not reassuring things to think of.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Where’s the stairs to the roof?” Vlad skidded to a stop, heart racing. They didn’t even know where they were going! Jack didn’t say anything, just grabbed his arm and pulled him along. After rounding a few corners, and shoving through some doors, they were climbing up the stairs. The sounds of the storm only grew louder.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They would have busted through the doors to the roof if they hadn’t already been propped open. They both looked around for any sign of Maddie, Jack fumbling to turn on his flashlight. Not that they needed it to see her.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Not wearing a jacket or rain boots, and completely soaked.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Back to them, eyes up, watching lightning dance across the sky. The soft sounds of Rock played from a boombox that they’d completely ignored in their rush, inside the propped doors so it was shielded from the storm.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Both of their hearts were pounding, and they just stared at her. She was...entranced. It was like they weren’t even </span>
  <em>
    <span>there</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“...Maddie?” Jack called, just loud enough to be heard over the music and the storm. The peal of guitars flared with the thunder. A flash of lightning followed shortly by the sound of an </span>
  <em>
    <span>explosion</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Jack and Vlad ducked back into cover, watching as she didn’t even </span>
  <em>
    <span>flinch</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Slowly, she turned to face them, and her expression scared them.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There was nothing there. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Until there was another crack of lightning, and she </span>
  <em>
    <span>grinned</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Vlad and Jack held onto each other, lost.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The next song came on, and she shook out of it enough to actually recognize them. Hurrying over, she was still grinning. Except now, she was </span>
  <em>
    <span>shaking</span>
  </em>
  <span> with life, and vibrancy.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Laughing loud as the thunder, she clapped both of them on the shoulders. “Sorry if I scared you guys! I just </span>
  <em>
    <span>love</span>
  </em>
  <span> being out in the storms.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They both looked lost for words until Jack piped up. “Uh, why are you blasting rock music?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It makes me feel strong. I don’t know why, but the guitar and drums and the </span>
  <em>
    <span>thunder and lightning</span>
  </em>
  <span>. It’s just </span>
  <em>
    <span>electrifying!</span>
  </em>
  <span>” Maddie laughed too loud, wiping a hand down her face.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She took them both by the hand and dragged them out with her, where she began dancing, flipping her soaking hair back out of her face. “Dance with me.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They weren’t afraid of her. Jack started shuffling along, still confused, and Vlad didn’t move, until Maddie rolled her eyes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I told you guys. I’m pulled to the storm. It’s how I am, and how I’ve always been. It’s never gotten me hurt, or like, even </span>
  <em>
    <span>sick</span>
  </em>
  <span>. My sister’s never gotten so much as a splinter in the woods, and my mom’s never </span>
  <em>
    <span>once</span>
  </em>
  <span> gotten turned around in a field. This?” She ran her hands over her hair again, pushing it out of her face. “This is my </span>
  <em>
    <span>element.</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And it was true. She’d always been fairly confident in herself and her work, but now it looked truly effortless. There was a fluidity to her movements, but also something more than that. There was a spark in her eyes that they’d only seen once, when she first spotted that sample of ectoplasm on the sidewalk.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The two of them relaxed, and began to accept that this was just a part of her, the way inventing was part of Jack and analysis was part of Vlad.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When the next song came on, Maddie laughed again, and grabbed Jack by the hands, pulling him along in a dance. Singing loudly over the thunder, Maddie didn’t look phased at all by the storm raging on. Her excitement was contagious, and soon enough Jack was genuinely dancing along. She let go and spun to Vlad, pulling him along the same way.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It took longer to get him to dance, but when he did, the three of them were more in sync.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The storm energized her, and the more she got into it, the more they did, too. Maddie sang along loudly, passionately. Jack joined her. The power of the storm made their hearts race, and the adrenaline only made it better.</span>
</p><p> </p><hr/><p>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>“What did I say, Madeline.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Don’t dance in the storm.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What did you do?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Dance in the storm.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“...Got Vladdie and Jackie to dance with me.” She said sheepishly. Irina sighed heavily. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And now your boo buddies are sick. You dragged them into it, you take care of them.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I was going to do that anyway! They’re my best friends, of course I’m going to take care of them.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know, I know. Just...Don’t get food for them on campus. You’re better off going to that place down the road. If you tell them Irina sent you and your friends are sick, the owner will give you some soup for the road. She’s my aunt.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Maddie hugged her, and Irina gave her a pat on the back. “Just because you don’t catch a cold from the rain doesn’t mean other people don’t either. Next time don’t drag them out without a jacket.”</span>
  <span></span>
  <br/>
  <br/>
</p><p>
  <span>“I wouldn’t have dragged them out at all if you hadn’t sent them after me.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I wouldn’t have sent them after you if you’d came in after half an hour like you said.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I...probably shouldn’t have given you that kind of time limit. I like to stay out there for a while.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’ll keep that in mind for next time. Now get going.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Maddie smiled at Irina, and went off, leaving the taller woman to sigh again. Yeah, she was pretty damn weird, but...It was kind of fun.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She snorted. Not that her boys were having fun right now. Serves them right, not just bringing her back in like she asked. </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>The song they sing to near the end of them dancing in the storm is Rock You Like A Hurricane btw!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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